Indian group opens Melbourne office
20 March 2007
Fire safety and security system specialist Firepro has opened a Melbourne office as the first step in a planned Asia-Pacific expansion…
Corporate
Suncorp and Promina still competitors – for one more week
13 March 2007
The shareholder votes are in, and last night the Federal Court gave its approval to the proposed Suncorp and Promina merger…
QBE cracks top 10
13 March 2007
Insurance giant QBE has reached the upper echelons of local business after breaking into the top 10 Australian companies by market capitalisation…
Clarification
13 March 2007
Our tongue-in-cheek comment last week that Macquarie Bank has a “new-found interest in insurance brokers” has been disputed by the bank…
Macquarie buys insurance broking service
06 March 2007
Major Australian financial services giant Macquarie Group is joining in on the trend to tap into the insurance market with a unique Canadian acquisition, and has announced…
Growth to come from purchases: Austbrokers
06 March 2007
In this soft market, Austbrokers isn’t expecting revenue rises to come from its established members…
NTI appoints Acting CEO
06 March 2007
National Transport Insurance Chairman Bob Wagstaffe has announced the appointment of Tony Clark as Acting CEO…
Brokers provide drought aid
06 March 2007
Victoria’s Regional Insurance Brokers Association is chipping in to the drought relief effort, paying for the equivalent of a full tank of water for farmers as part of a drought relief…
QBE rides low-claim wave to profit record
27 February 2007
Strong investment returns, declining claims and premium rises have set up another bumper result for QBE, which has reported a 36% increase in net profit for the full year…
Overseas earnings will be key for IAG
27 February 2007
IAG has seen its second-half profit slump because of falling premiums and below-par investment returns…
Promina chief backs staff for merger
27 February 2007
Outgoing Promina CEO Michael Wilkins hopes the company’s management will be retained under a merged Suncorp group – and most industry observers say they’d be amazed…
Management changes at OAMPS
27 February 2007
OAMPS MD Tony Robinson has left the company following its acquisition by Wesfarmers, with the WA conglomerate unsuccessful in its efforts to hold on to his services…
Axa backs Asian growth
27 February 2007
A cashed-up Axa Asia Pacific Holdings is sitting on nearly $1 billion in investments, mainly in Asia, as it seeks to capitalise on low debt and another strong performance across its business…
Broking flat but Marsh pushes on
27 February 2007
Marsh & McLennan’s global earnings soared over the fourth quarter of last year, but the local broking operation is feeling the same sort of slowdown its global parent is suffering…
Lumley takes to the boats
27 February 2007
Lumley has added private pleasurecraft insurance to its product portfolio under a new agreement with national group Nautilus Marine…
… while Pacific underwrites marine cargo
27 February 2007
Stardex subsidiary Pacific Underwriting has launched a marine cargo insurance facility backed by international marine syndicates using Lloyd’s of London…
Promina profit surges for 2006
20 February 2007
Promina has surpassed market expectations to post a record annual net profit as Australia’s second-largest insurer enters the final stages of its $7.9 billion merger with Suncorp…
Suncorp turns in 16% improvement
20 February 2007
Suncorp-Metway says it is on track to top last year’s full-year profit result by 10% after announcing a first-half profit rise of 16% to $527 million…
IBNA and Austbrokers continue talks
20 February 2007
Expect some details of the proposed alliance of broker cluster networks IBNA and Austbrokers within the next few weeks…
Wesfarmers results down after acquisitions
20 February 2007
The Wesfarmers insurance division achieved gross written premium of $546 million and earnings before interest and tax of $60.1 million for the half-year to December 31…